The Dream - For me the dream is to see Tennis be the #1 sport in Canada. What does that mean? I want every parent of a 3-5 year old child to be thinking that their child needs to play tennis first regardless of socioeconomic factors, race and or physical ability. I want every teen or adult looking to get active to think and play tennis first and have a safe and fun place to play the game all year round. I know being in Canada however this will be mountainous goal to achieve with our countries love for hockey and the amazing job soccer has done to capture the youth. We also must be honest and learn from our past - we have done a poor job keeping players playing - do not believe me? Look at the faces at your club- do you see a lot of new ones? Even in this city we have 1000's of kids go through summer tennis camps every year but very few stay in the sport???? This is not any individuals or clubs fault (yet) because we implement a loose system without a direct path to the next piece. Did you know that 80% of clubs still teach the old fashioned way - line up and hope you hit 3-4 balls every 1-5 minutes. Every other sport has already adapted to the players level. Hockey shrinks the rink, soccer shrinks the field and net and baseball uses a tee and shrinks the field. Progressive tennis is here and we must use it for all beginners(regardless of age) to help them to really enjoy the game.
With a real plan of action and some very passionate people we can get this dream/vision accomplished but within the next 5 years we must build a that true pathway. This plan cannot sit on piece of paper at Tennis Canada or sit in data center waiting and hoping somebody downloads it off a website and takes action.
So what has to happen?
City run programming in public parks and schools must be structured to get kids and new adults (beginners) to play tennis (notice I said play tennis not take a tennis lesson). By leveraging and utilizing progressive balls, nets and a team tennis program we will provide the nourishment to fuel the love for all that try it.
We have to work with the education system to train teachers to provide a new and amazing way for kids to play tennis (be active) in the GYM and or in the school yard. Progressive tennis with its small rackets and foam balls or low compression balls combined with a team concept will help make this simple and fun for everyone.
Team tennis must become a big piece of the pie for both young and old because we all feel the need to belong to something bigger than the individual. Team leagues must be built and run for juniors and adults at the member club level and private clubs. Regional associations must focus efforts on insuring inter-club team leagues are built and that there is a system in place for the city to also run leagues on the public courts.
As this pathway system gets implemented we will need business partners to help fund additional community indoor facilities and we know for a fact that indoor community clubs with 6 courts( that are run right) are profitable investments for all parties involved.
I have talked enough this morning and the details will follow but honestly here is what it will take to get us moving forward.
As tennis players, associations, coaches, club board members, staff, educators, city employees, pre-teens, teens, adults, parents, and anybody else that has a desire to grow and play this game we must no longer act as a group of individuals;
We must be a individuals acting as a community of 1
We must utilize technology, we must communicate as a nation and we need to act as one with a laser vision on growing the game so that it becomes the top of mind sport for all. One of the best things you can do to move the dream forward is to sign up for free on Courtside Canada and then get your club involved. It is free to join and once we all get on this system we will be connected. We can then very easily communicate and leverage the knowledge of the collective and build a best practices ever evolving (nothing stands still) program and structure.
Let me also quickly tell the skeptics out there who are worried about losing members at their community club because the city provides more and better service on the public courts because in this new model these courts can sustain themselves. Believe me in this model your membership will never be bigger because of the 100 000's of new players that will be introduced and playing the greatest life long game in the world. We will be trying to find ways to add more courts to your clubs as quickly as possible. And finally, for those of you who really like the status-quo of having your own membership club for the summer where you can always get courts day or night and nobody under the age of 18 seems to trouble you. I hope you join in the fight to build a stronger game but I know in my heart that I or somebody like me will have to answer your emails and calls in a professional manner 5 years from now when you are actually upset that you have to book your court time through courtside at the local club because it is so busy with team tennis, progressive tennis, hundreds of kids and adults all enjoying the community of 1 and simply the BEST GAME IN THE WORLD.
Have a great week everybody and get out there and play.....
